The State Department said Thursday that the international campaign to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile program is working, even though North Korea fired a missile over Japan last week, and tested a hydrogen bomb on Sunday.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it’s a “legitimate question” to ask if the international campaign is working, but said it is.
“Yes, I can say that the pressure campaign is working,” she told reporters.
“Now, when you see a test that took place on Sunday, you may think, ‘Goodness, that is not working.’ But that is not the case, and here’s why,” she said. “It can take a long, long time for sanctions to work. It can take a long time for a pressure campaign to work.”
“It is not an overnight thing, it’s not a big, sexy military operation,” Nauert said. “This is handled very, very differently.”
Nauert said the best example of success with North Korea so far is how many countries have taken steps to pressure the regime. She said several have agreed to reduce the number of people in North Korea’s missions, and limit the number of guest workers from North Korea.
“We will continue to push forward with this campaign. We are having success,” she said.
“This all will take time,” Nauert said.
President Trump has stressed that all options are on the table for dealing with North Korea, and on Thursday, he said military action is “certainly something that could happen.” He said if that step were needed, it would be a “very sad day.”
“I can tell you that North Korea is behaving badly, and it’s gotta stop,” he said.
